Percussion caps and other supplies during the last shortage?

[Blogman]

Ive looked into that self made #11 cap deal, but it just looks like a pain in the butt.

Ya, it's a PITA but I love being able to "experiment." Make em hotter/cooler/replace this for that and such, just know what your mixing with what.

 

[Carbon 6]

Just convert to flintlock.

 

[SDSmlf]

up here in Canada, unless you are near a major center, caps are hard to find, and expensive when you do.(at least where I am, can`t even get BP without special ordering it) I have tins of caps marked $10.00, and have seen them as high as $14.00. picked up a Tap-o-cap. dug out the compound from the red plastic caps, need about 5 red caps for 1 tap-o-cap. mixed with alcohol and packed it in. topped with a tiny bit of 3f BP and capped that off with a dot of cheap newsprint paper and spray hair wax. wax stays soft but sticky, not hard and brittle like hair spray. not sure about long term storage. made about 20 while watching tv, and tested 10. worked every time. PITA, but the tool is in the toolbox and a stack of the red plastic toy caps with it, just in case. only dicey part is getting the compound out of the red caps.

Grew up near the Canadian border and remember Canadian reloaders buying components in bulk from my LGS in the states. And I mean bulk purchases, as they would sometimes take everything that was available, and also pre-order. Not sure how feasible it would be today or even if you are close enough to the border, if it’s legal to cross with components.

 

[n.h.schmidt]

up here in Canada, unless you are near a major center, caps are hard to find, and expensive when you do.(at least where I am, can`t even get BP without special ordering it) I have tins of caps marked $10.00, and have seen them as high as $14.00. picked up a Tap-o-cap. dug out the compound from the red plastic caps, need about 5 red caps for 1 tap-o-cap. mixed with alcohol and packed it in. topped with a tiny bit of 3f BP and capped that off with a dot of cheap newsprint paper and spray hair wax. wax stays soft but sticky, not hard and brittle like hair spray. not sure about long term storage. made about 20 while watching tv, and tested 10. worked every time. PITA, but the tool is in the toolbox and a stack of the red plastic toy caps with it, just in case. only dicey part is getting the compound out of the red caps.

Hi eggwelder
I can help you in the making of percussion caps.You can already make the cups so that part is done. Can you find the toy pistol role caps? The only ones to use are the german made ones. I'm not talking about punching the dots out. Way too much paper involved. I soak the paper and lift the dots off with a sharp knife. You get all power and no paper this way. I have used 12 dots per cup and could use more if wanted. They easily fit with room to spare. This is also safe as the dots are wet with water and will not fire until dry. I also work with real primer mixes. They are better yet , easy and cheap. What's needed may be restricted for you or not. I use one mix that has been powerful ,cheap and safe.
Take care
n.h.schmidt

 

[lyman54]

up here in Canada, unless you are near a major center, caps are hard to find, and expensive when you do.(at least where I am, can`t even get BP without special ordering it) I have tins of caps marked $10.00, and have seen them as high as $14.00. picked up a Tap-o-cap. dug out the compound from the red plastic caps, need about 5 red caps for 1 tap-o-cap. mixed with alcohol and packed it in. topped with a tiny bit of 3f BP and capped that off with a dot of cheap newsprint paper and spray hair wax. wax stays soft but sticky, not hard and brittle like hair spray. not sure about long term storage. made about 20 while watching tv, and tested 10. worked every time. PITA, but the tool is in the toolbox and a stack of the red plastic toy caps with it, just in case. only dicey part is getting the compound out of the red caps.

Try gun shows. Usually you can find caps there. I found a bunch of old Navy caps and 1 tin of unusual size of 200 caps that were over 100 years old. Those worked better than any others I've bought over the many years. I know Canada sucks as far as supplies.

 

[smo]

In case you didn't notice, em rocks are getting expensive too.

You are right about that Zonie!

I just hope they don’t get as expensive as those shiny rocks most Ladies prefer ....

Fortunately for me ,I live in Tn and own 79.17 acres of rocks...

I’ve never used one in my flinter, but I think if I had to I could make one work.

The good thing is, I have an endless supply for my fire starting kit .

 

[eggwelder]

the caps I have, I have found most at gun shows. gun shows are not a thing in Newfoundland, not sure why.
the roll caps that I did manage to find were all Chinese, so I didn`t buy any. I think I`ll look into that priming compound, just to have it in the toolbox.
would I convert all to flint? maybe, but people get flamed on here for wasting money converting cheap production percussion CVAs, Ardessas, and such like as I own.
one of my flint guns is home built, while I do like it, I like shooting the others as well. it does get about 25 -70 shots per flint, depending on the flint and if I pay close enough attention during set up so that it does not just bash away at the striker. the other flint gun gets the worn out flints to bash away with, it sparks ok it does not seem to matter if the flint is sharp or not. kind of like a miquelete, but less reliable. geometry and frizzen hardness are definite factors, I think.

 

[Blogman]

I think I`ll look into that priming compound, just to have it in the toolbox.

I have a batch if ya want some. No hasfees needed.

 

[Blogman]

Ohh, you're in Canada, maybe not. Best to get it on-line just because.

 

[n.h.schmidt]

You can use the Chinese role caps too. It's just a little harder. You soak a strip of the role caps in water for about a min. You can then peel off the the thin cover paper from the strip. The dots are little blobs of wet and grainy .Easy to scoop up on your knife blade. Depending on how much is there ,10 to 15 dots can be scraped into percussion cup. If really wet let them dry a little and seat the mix in the cup with something .A wooden matchstick will do. Some sort of binder needs to be used A drop of Duco cement thinned with acatone works very well. A few shellac flakes dissolved in denatured alcohol works great. Hairspray can work but the other two are better. Use the binder when the caps are dry.There is a lot of power here. If you use a binder you don't really need any paper cover in the caps.
n.h.schmidt

 

[lyman54]

Grew up near the Canadian border and remember Canadian reloaders buying components in bulk from my LGS in the states. And I mean bulk purchases, as they would sometimes take everything that was available, and also pre-order. Not sure how feasible it would be today or even if you are close enough to the border, if it’s legal to cross with components.

It's illegal for us to bring just about anything gun related. Maybe some minor things but anything that makes a gun go boom is illegal. Canada will let us bring up to 5,000 rds of ammo and a couple lbs of powder if one is stupid enough to try it. I wouldn't want to be a quest in a U.S. prison.

 

[SDSmlf]

It's illegal for us to bring just about anything gun related. Maybe some minor things but anything that makes a gun go boom is illegal. Canada will let us bring up to 5,000 rds of ammo and a couple lbs of powder if one is stupid enough to try it. I wouldn't want to be a quest in a U.S. prison.

Figured today there are plenty of ‘rules’ to follow at the border. Not sure if what I witnessed years ago was legal or not, but it was happening. Different time.

 

[lyman54]

Figured today there are plenty of ‘rules’ to follow at the border. Not sure if what I witnessed years ago was legal or not, but it was happening. Different time.

Before 911 things were different. I joined a club in Vermont, when I told the U.S. custom guy where I was going he asked what I had in the car. when I told him a BP rifle I was waved through.

 

[SDSmlf]

Interestingly, purchased a few items (barrel and a lock, not a complete gun) from Canada within the last 18 months or so. USPS delivered both and shipping charges were reasonable, only slightly higher than a US domestic shipment.

Even further off topic, my last Canadian hunt was an archery hunt. Told our friends at the border we going archery hunting and they would not believe we had no firearms until they performed a complete welcome to Canada vehicle search. They were very polite, found no guns, but doubt they believed us.